No Two Hearts
by Cassandra Mulder
Summary: She didn't know if she deserved such devotion. Postmovie


**Title: **No Two Hearts  
**Author: **Cassandra Mulder  
**Rating: **PG  
**Classification: **_The Lake House_; Kate/Alex; romance; post-movie  
**Spoilers:** Yes. It would probably help to have seen the movie.  
**Disclaimer:** _The Lake House_ and these lovely characters belong to Warner Bros. and David Auburn. No infringement is intended.  
**Summary:** She didn't know if she deserved such devotion.  
**Written:** July 19 - 21, 2006  
**Word Count:** 548  
**A/N:** I guess you could call this short and sweet, but after the rough patch I've hit with writing lately, I'll take it. This is immediately post-movie, and deals with the quirky little issue I had with one aspect of the movie. But not enough for it to make me love it any less. The title is taken from a line in Jane Austen's Persuasion, which features heavily in the film, as the character of Kate quotes the line, "...there could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison, no countenances so beloved." I adore Jane Austen and thought the line was so beautiful, that in coming up with a title, I had to use it. I must say that I also adore Sandra and Keanu for doing this movie, because watching them together onscreen is like magic. Even without the mailbox. ;)

* * *

Kate knew her mother was right as Alex opened the door to the lake house for her. He was a nice young man. He was so much more than that; he was _everything_ to her. She didn't know if she was ever going to be able to forgive herself for not realizing that sooner, but she only hoped that he would forgive her. He had waited so long just to be with her, and she didn't know if she deserved such devotion.

She wanted to say that she was sorry, a thousand times sorry, she didn't know how she had lost faith in them, but he wasn't willing to stop kissing her once they were inside. If she was honest with herself, she wasn't willing to stop holding this wonderful man in her arms so she could spill all her regrets.

When they finally parted, she wrapped her arms around his neck, entwining her fingers in his hair. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and breathed him in, remembering the first night they had met. How had she not known right then and there that he was the one for her? Alex had known. He had the benefit of her letters, but she felt like he would have known even without them.

"I'm sorry, Alex," she murmured against his skin.

"What?" he asked, a small frown drawing his eyebrows together.

She pulled back to face him. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For..." She was finding it hard to look at him, and her eyes focused on a patch of sky through the glass wall just behind his head. She finally forced her eyes to his again. "For giving up on you, Alex. For giving up on _us_. I... abandoned you, and I was miserable, but that doesn't make up for what I did to you. I should have believed. You had enough faith for the both of us, and that's all I left you with." Kate didn't want to cry, but she found her eyes welling up anyway.

Alex looked surprised at her words. "No, Kate, don't cry," he said. "I don't blame you for any of that. You did what you had to do. You didn't know if this would ever work out. I understand."

She looked down at her hands clutching the front of his sweater, and shook her head. "How can you? You waited four years. I couldn't even be patient for half of that, but you waited."

"I would wait four hundred years if it meant you were there at the end of them. But that's not the point. The waiting is over, and we're together. I just want to you to be happy, Kate. I have everything I want now. You made that possible."

His brown eyes were sparkling, and she couldn't help but smile. Her fear and guilt was allayed by his simple understanding. "I am happy, Alex. And incredibly lucky to have you. I'll never give up on us again. I promise."

"I know you won't," he said, drawing her closer.

She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he said, smiling into her hair.

No two hearts had ever meant those words more.

Finis


End file.
